CHARITY & SOCIAL ACTIVISM
YANG BAN SENG
Yang Ban Seng is the managing director and group CEO of the Comfortdelgro Corporation, one of the world’s largest land transport companies. In 2018, the deputy chairman of Vicom and SBS Transit expanded the group’s presence overseas with the acquisitions of UK transport operator New Adventure Travel Group for £13m and Australia’s National Patient Transport for A$30m.
KOH CHOON HUI
Koh Choon Hui has chaired the Singapore Children’s Society since 1978. He is a recipient of the Outstanding Lifetime Volunteer Award, the top government award for volunteerism. The social service stalwart is also the chairman of the Singapore Pools, which launched non-profit cloud service company, ishine Cloud, with the National Council of Social Services in 2018.
LAURENCE LIEN
Co-founder and CEO of the Asia Philanthropy Circle, Laurence Lien has launched collaborative projects such as the Asean Philanthropy Dialogue 2018. The grandson of late banker Lien Ying Chow is also working on the first assisted living facility for seniors expected to launch by 2021. He chairs the Lien Foundation and the Community Foundation of Singapore.
GERARD EE
Gerard Ee is the chairman of the Charities Council and the deputy chairman of Singhealth. For his contributions in community service and international leadership, he received the honorary Doctor of Letters from the National University of Singapore in 2017. Also group chairman of all Canossian schools and programmes, Ee has plans to pen a short novel in 2019.
MELISSA KWEE
Melissa Kwee is the CEO of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC). In 2018, NVPC launched A Good Space to provide social changemakers with a venue to host events, and the SG Cares app, which makes volunteering and donating to charity easier for Singaporeans. That same year, the eldest daughter of businessman Kwee Liong Tek was appointed a Justice of the Peace.
NOOR QUEK
Founder and CEO of financial services company, NQ International, Noor Quek is a champion of gender equality, committed to growing the executive placement assignments of women in leadership roles. The president of the Breast Cancer Foundation is also a member of the Women’s Health Advisory Council. Quek counts music, especially performing for charity, as her biggest hobby.
HO SWEE HUAT
Ho Swee Huat is the co-founder and chairman of the Autism Association (Singapore). He initiated the Bull Charge charity run (formerly Bull Run) with the Singapore Exchange, which has since raised $30m for local charities. He is also the managing director of Abacus Assets Advisors and an independent director of the Development Bank of Sarawak.
TRINA LIANG-LIN
Managing director of Templebridge Investments, Trina LiangLin is also a vice president of the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations. The former president of the Singapore Committee for UN Women received the Service Award by the Ministry of Education in 2018, and with her husband Edmund Lin, co-chairs their own Lin Foundation.
SAW SWEE HOCK
A president’s honorary professor of statistics at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Saw Swee Hock is known for his philanthropic contributions towards tertiary education. The Public Service Medal recipient has donated more than US$30M to universities around the world. In 2011, he reportedly donated $30m to NUS to launch its School of Public Health, which is named after him.